


Baby Gay

by boy_boy_doggins



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Bisexuality, Gen, Mentorship, Self-Discovery, finding community, realistic kinda
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:06:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,608
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25779406
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/boy_boy_doggins/pseuds/boy_boy_doggins
Summary: Jeno spent a long time debating whether he should ever talk to Ten about it. It wasn’t really… it wasn’t a problem, exactly, but he kept thinking about it when he was trying to sleep, and his life didn’t allow for lost sleep at the best of times.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19





	Baby Gay

Jeno spent a long time debating whether he should ever talk to Ten about it. It wasn’t really… it wasn’t a problem, exactly, but he kept thinking about it when he was trying to sleep, and his life didn’t allow for lost sleep at the best of times.

He finally resolves to get it over with in February, except by then Ten is _really_ busy, so it takes a whole month for them to have any overlap in free time.

_Would you like to go get coffee together tomorrow?_ Jeno asks him over text. _It’s okay if you can’t._ Then he thinks about how long he’s been waiting for this moment, and amends himself. _Actually, it’s kind of important to me. I’d appreciate it._

Ten texts him back fifteen minutes later, the duration of which Jeno spent nervously checking his phone and trying to distract himself, with a simple _sure bb, anytime._

They go to the cafe on the second floor of the SM building, because the effort of sneaking past the fans and dodging both their managers to go to an outside cafe isn’t worth it. Jeno orders green tea, and Ten gets back coffee with four scoops of sugar. Jeno makes a face at his drink choice, so Ten forces him to take a sip. It’s pretty gross, but it makes Ten laugh.

They sit at an open table by the window.

“So, what’s up?” Ten asks, eyes bright and curious. He has some serious bags under his eyes, but he doesn’t seem tired at all.

Jeno opens his mouth to ask it, _finally,_ and- he’s confident for half a second, before he realizes he can’t actually talk about this in a public cafe _in his own company._

“Fuck,” he says instead, with feeling. “I can’t talk about this here.”

Ten’s face lights up, absolutely delighted.

“Did you get a girl pregnant?” he hisses, with a concerning amount of glee.

“No! Jesus!” Jeno yelps, almost spilling his tea. He glances around to see if anyone heard, but no one is looking at them.

Ten laughs, loud and unrestrained, and Jeno slaps his hand over his face.

“I hate you,” he says, defeated.

“Aw, c’mon, I’m your favorite hyung. You’re bothering to tell me about your future kids and everything.” He nods to himself. “I’m ready to support you, whatever your decision. Although I think an abortion is the best choice, if we’re being honest.”

“I _fucking_ hate you,” Jeno says again, genuinely pained. Ten looks smug, but doesn’t needle him further. “And no, it’s not about- _anything_ like that. I just don’t wanna talk about it here.”

Ten shrugs.

“Let’s just go to an open office, then. There’s plenty of empty rooms to have whatever deep conversation you wanna have.”

It doesn’t take long to find an open room, and Ten perches himself delicately on the polished wood of the table.

“Alright, we finally found a secret space for your big confession. What do you wanna talk about?”

“Well, uh,” Jeno starts, and realizes he doesn’t actually know how to have a conversation like this. “Uh. You’re- you know how you’re- um. Fuck, I don’t know how to say this.” Jeno clenches and unclenches his hands, trying to relax. He’s had this conversation a million times in his head, but the real thing is so much harder. “You’re gay, right?”

Ten tilts his head and looks at him. His expression is unreadable.

“Maybe. Why?”

“Well, I have, um. I kind of think I… might… be?” Jeno shakes his head. He can’t look Ten in the eye. “No. I don’t know. But I wanted to, uh, ask you.”

Ten’s expression smooths out, melting into a soft smile.

“Oh, baby, I understand.” He touches Jeno’s hand gently, and it’s immensely steadying. “Just breathe. Say what you gotta say.”

Jeno breathes, in-out, and throws himself down into one of the fancy rolly chairs.

“I can’t believe how nervous I am,” he says, laughing slightly. “Jesus. I’ve been thinking about this for so long, I thought it would go easier.” He runs his hands through his hair. “I’ve just- I keep _noticing_ stuff. I’m not sure if it’s normal.”

Ten snorts.

“What kinda stuff are you noticing, then?” he asks, prodding Jeno to finish his thought.

“I just- I keep noticing when guys have, like, really nice legs. And arms. And faces. Like when I met Taeyong hyung for the first time, I couldn’t even talk to him for weeks! And I thought I was just nervous around him but it might’ve been something else.” Jeno sighs. “I don’t know if that makes me gay. Like, it’s not any different than what I notice about girls. I thought it would go away eventually, but it’s only gotten worse. One time I literally walked into a wall because I was staring at a guy from Seventeen.”

Ten doesn’t reply, but the corner of his mouth twitches suspiciously.

“Are you laughing at me?” Jeno demands, and Ten lets out a half smothered giggle.

“I’m sorry! You were talking really seriously. It was cute.”

“It’s a serious question, though,” Jeno says, a little hurt. His ego feels bruised; this was not how he planned this conversation going.

“What’s the question, babe? Like, none of that sounds very straight.”

“But I like girls, still,” Jeno says, frowning. “Doesn’t that make the guy thing a fluke?”

“I don’t think walking into a wall is a fluke, Jeno.” Ten hops off the table and places his hand on Jeno’s forearm, comforting. “Do you know what bisexual means?”

Jeno blinks.

“Yeah, duh. Wait, you think I might be- really?”

“Well, yeah. You like guys and girls, right? Bisexual. It’s not complicated.”

“Huh. Bisexual.” Jeno rolls the word around in his mouth. “I always thought stuff like that was for, like…”

Ten raises his perfect eyebrows.

“Other people?”

“Yeah. People who have their shit figured out.”

“I’ve got a secret for you, baby gay. I’ve had this conversation before, a couple times actually. Gay shit has never been ‘for other people.’ Even I, in all my infinite wisdom, wasn’t born knowing I was gay.”

“That’s hard to believe.”

Ten laughs and swats his shoulder.

“Watch it, buddy.” His phone buzzes, and he checks the screen quickly. “Oh, Mark is asking after you. He went to the cafe looking for you, I guess. You wanna go meet him? I could use another coffee, actually.”

“Your taste in coffee is disgusting,” Jeno tells him flat out, and Ten cackles.

“C’mon, my caffeine addiction needs satiating.”

They see Mark before he sees them, lurking by the napkin dispenser. Ten is about to call out to him when Jeno grabs his arm, seized by a sudden urge to not let their moment together end just yet.

“Wait, before you say hi, can I hug you?”

Ten blinks at him, which Jeno takes as a yes. He smothers Ten in a quick hug and murmurs into his hair.

“Thank you. Seriously. You’re the only gay guy I know, and you’ve been really nice about this.”

Ten chuckles, warm and small against him.

“Baby, I am _not_ the only gay guy you know.”

Jeno lets go, dumbstruck, and Ten is grinning his head off.

“Who else?” Jeno asks, disbelieving.

“Not my secret to tell, right now. I’ll ask a couple of them if they don’t mind me telling you, so you can have other people to talk about this stuff with. Everyone needs gay friends. Oh, Mark noticed us. I’m gonna go get my coffee.”

Ten waves cheekily at Mark, who gives him a confused wave in return.

“Ten told me he was meeting you today, what did you guys talk about?” Mark asks Jeno, who is busy staring after Ten. Ten looks completely carefree, like he didn’t just rock Jeno’s entire world.

“What? Oh. Uh, we talked about, um stuff.”

Mark frowns.

“What kind of stuff?”

“Personal stuff,” Jeno tells him, hoping he’ll drop it. Mark’s face goes through a wierd series of micro expressions that Jeno couldn’t even begin to parse.

He drags Jeno down the hallway to the elevators.

“Did you guys talk about… Ten-specific things? Like stuff he’s, uh, uniquely able to understand?”

Jeno stares at Mark. There’s a weird tension between them, and he can’t tell if it’s good or bad.

“…Yes,” Jeno finally admits. “Why are you asking? What do you… think we talked about?”

Mark’s eyes widen.

“Dude, nothing bad. I just think, if I’m right about what you guys talked about, then I understand.” Mark rubs the back of his neck. “I might’ve had the same conversation with him.”

Jeno’s mouth drops open. The elevator dings, and Mark has to pull him in before the doors close on them.

“Holy shit,” Jeno says. “You too?”

Mark nods.

“Yeah. If you guys talked about what I think you talked about.”

“I thought I was the only one. Well, I thought Ten was the only one.”

Mark barks out a laugh, surprised.

“Oh, no, dude, no way.”

“That’s so weird,” Jeno mumbles to himself. “How did I not know this. I really wanna know who else is.” Then he blinks, and stares at Mark. “Wait, wait, you’re telling me you’re gay, right? I seriously had _no idea_!”

“Dude, not so loud! Jesus. And I’m bi.”

Jeno’s mouth opens in a perfect little ‘o.’

“Oh my god, me too! That’s so weird. This is so weird.”

Mark laughs. His phone buzzes in his pocket, and he checks it.

“Oh, Ten just texted the group chat to say there’s a new baby gay. That’s you, right?”

“ _There’s a group chat?_ ”

**Author's Note:**

> *this is a fictional version of men i have never and will never meet. this has no bearing on who they are in real life
> 
> anyway gay mentorship and friendship is important, i wish it was more of a trope in fandom. ten is the perfect guide for a new baby gay, imo


End file.
